by Lexy Timms
Erik got his footing and shoved the other man off before standing.
“She's pregnant with my bairn." Marcus laughed and spit the blood from his mouth.
"I'm going to gut you, and leave you in the forest for the animals to eat your flesh until there is nothing left." Erik growled, spitting at Marcus as the part of him he hated the most began to surface. How many innocent lives had he taken? Each of his weapons was coated in the crimson liquid of innocent blood. His reasoning with the advisory to pull back and stop the massacre in Scotland would not be repaid. He owed too much for his own transgressions.
"Make sure you hold my lass while she cries over my death, cousin?" Marcus scoffed and lunged forward, grabbing Erik's shirt and jerking him forward. The sting of their forehead's cracking together jolted Erik, the world shifting as dizziness washed over him. He reached for his knife, realizing it lay on the ground.
"Looking for something?" Marcus pulled the small hand sword from the dirt, the butt of it the only thing showing. He growled loudly, laughing as madness overtook him.
"I don't need a fooking weapon. I'm going to kill you with my bare hands for touching my woman." Erik swung hard, his fist connecting with Marcus' jaw as the sharp biting pain of the knife stabbing into his lung took his breath away.
He needed to find Linzi. Was she all right. If Marcus had stolen the girl's heart that was one thing, but the chances of that happening seemed so slim. She would kill herself before she let a man like Marcus hurt her. He had her hidden and nothing was going to become of them if he killed his cousin without finding the girl.
Erik jerked back, the knife bloody and in Marcus' grasp tightly. "My father gave me that weapon."
"Aye and he gave me one too. I’m going to bury it in your heart because the girl doesn't love you. She's mine and will always be mine." Marcus screamed before he charged again, his shoulder pouring blood from the gaping hole in it. If Erik could keep him busy for a little while longer, the other man would come close to bleeding out. If he could just get him in a vulnerable state... he could find Linzi. If he didn’t get himself killed first, or his own bleeding to succumb before Marcus’ did.
Erik twisted to avoid the knife again and lost his balance, his mind far from the fight in front of him. Marcus wrapped an arm around Erik's neck and turned, both of them falling again. Marcus took the advantage and sat on Erik's stomach, his hand raised as he poised the knife to stab.
"I'm the one that shot those damn arrows! I'm the one that sent Paul! I'm the one that paid the whores and the assassins! I'm the force behind everything that has led to this moment."
Erik pressed against his cousin’s arm, the position not allowing him to have much control. Marcus had gotten much bigger over the last year, his efforts obviously being to live for the moment they were in.
"Why would you put forth so much effort for a wench?"
"The tart." He pressed down and Erik caught a glimpse of copper hair moving just behind them. He wanted to scream, to move and see if it was Linzi, but he was locked in a death match with his childhood best friend. “The tart tastes better than any cunt I’ve ever had.”
Erik struggled helplessly against Marcus’ weight. His lung burned like fire as he tried to catch his breath.
Marcus knew he had Erik beaten. He leered. “Because I want the crown. I deserve it. You've done nothing but take everything that is given to you. I should be you." Marcus pushed and Erik grunted as the tip of the knife touched the soft tissue above his heart.
"Well, you're not him." Linzi's voice broke through the night. She moved fast, one hand pulling Marcus’ hair back and the other flicking hard to drag Erik's beloved knife across his cousin’s throat.
She pushed Marcus off and fell, Erik reaching up and grabbing her with a strength he thought he no longer had.
Erik wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed violently. He rolled onto his side, holding her close and whispering against her hair until she calmed a little. “What has he done to you?” He kissed her hair, nearly too weak to do so. He fought the darkness trying to envelop him. He must be dreaming. She couldn’t be here, in his arms. Had the gods thought to torment him for all his wrongs?
Hot tears dripped into her hair, the pain of knowing that all she suffered was due to him was too much. Her fingers dug into him and he pulled her closer, his lungs screaming for him to breathe her in faster.
She slapped him hard and rolled away, standing and stomping back to the house. He looked over to ensure that Marcus was dead and closed his eyes, trying to let the moment wash over him. He was alive. The sting from her hand proved it. Along with the cut in his chest.
He smiled despite the pain.
There were many damaged bridges to fix, especially if Marcus had touched her, but he was willing to spend forever working to make things right. He caught his breath, the thought of her alive giving him strength. He sat up slowly, his side stinking painfully. He pulled his shirt off and moved to his knees as Linzi walked from the house again, bandages in her hand and hatred on her face. She said nothing. She started to bandage his wound, her lips pressed into a tight line.
"For fook sake!” he said as he watched her. “Say something to me! I've been living a damn nightmare since I left this land, since I left you." He reached out and touched the side of her face as she knelt beside him, working fast to bandage his side up. He growled loudly when she failed to respond and pulled her into his lap, sliding his hand into her silky locks and pressing his lips to hers.
She came alive in the kiss, her mouth opening for him as she whimpered softly. He slid his tongue against hers, exploring her and needing so much more. He groaned and rolled them, pressing her small body under his as he continued to kiss his woman.
He lifted up and growled at her again. "Mine."
"You're bleeding to death, you arse. Get off of me and let me get your side patched up."
He laughed, unable to help himself. She hadn't changed a bit. Whatever Marcus had done, she still had her fire.
"Not until you tell me that you don't belong to Marcus and you don't belong to that pussy of a boy dead at the bottom of the field. Tell me who you belong to." The Viking in him demanded ownership. If he was going to give up everything for her, it had to be because she wanted him.
She slapped him again, hard.
He leaned down and pressed his elbows to the side of her face, locking her in place. "Don't hit me again."
Tears filled her eyes as she let out a soft feminine sob and he released his aggressive hold on her. How badly he needed her to want him, to declare without a doubt that she was his woman, but she was beyond scarred by him, by the death he brought to her door and the destruction that he ushered in.
He rolled off of her and she sat up, moving to gather her supplies and begin working on him again. He rolled away from her a little, giving her a good view of the wound. The door to the other house down the field opened. A woman walked out, holding a child, the sun hitting the babe's blond hair and illuminating it.
"Shite. It can't be." Erik sat up and moved from her, before dropping back on his knees as the air left his lungs. He leaned over and pressed his hand to the ground as he panted. No way the gods would bless him with a boy?
"Erik! Erik, don’t you dare die on me!" Her panic was palpable, the fear in her voice causing him to reach for her. He pulled her to him and kissed her again, the lass bending beneath him and kissing him with the same passion he pressed against her.
She was hurt and scared, but nothing would change the facts.
Linzi was his. Forever.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Linzi
It was too much. Sensory overload left her numb, unable to respond to his pleas, to his cry for confirmation. Of course she was his. She hadn't belonged to anyone before him and would never after him. She pressed her response into their kiss, wanting so badly to bleed her heart out before him, but what if it was just another dream?
Had the night with Marcus been a nightmare? S
he had fed him glass after glass of mead, the house dry of liquor. He had made several attempts to take her to bed, but she bought time with more liquor. He was cruel and hard. She felt ill at the thought of him touching her, but now wasn't the time to analyze anything.
"Linzi!” Sara yelled from across the property. She hurried as fast as her large body would allow.
Linzi stood and offered Erik her hand. "Are you really here? Is it really you?"
Hot tears raced down her cheeks again as he stood and pulled her into his arms. "Yes, lass. I've come all the way from Denmark to find the color in my life. I need you. Only you."
She clung to him, lifting to her toes and pulling him down for another long kiss. He moaned against her lips and slid his hands over her back to cup her rear. She growled loudly, desire to be taken by her man rushing over her in waves that left her skin tingling.
"I need you inside of me," she whispered against his mouth, lifting her leg and hooking it on his hip.
"Yes," he whispered, moving his kisses from her lips to her neck, his teeth sinking into the soft flesh of her shoulder. "But not now. Later. I want to see this boy and then I'm going to fook you until you can't walk for days."
She glanced over her shoulder before turning back to him. "He's yours. The witch was right."
"Have you named him?"
Tears blurred her gaze again as she reached up to wipe them. "Kenton Nathaniel."
He kissed her softly again and lifted her face to his, ignoring the pain in his side. It would heal. "I've needed to feel your skin against mine for so long I thought I might not survive it." He rubbed his face against hers again before setting her down.
She turned as Sara approached, the baby bouncing and making cooing noises.
Sara handed the babe to her as she glanced around. “Been one hell of a night?” The sun broke through the forest line and lit the ground as if an angel had blessed the moment.
Linzi smiled. “You could say that.” She turned to show the baby to Erik. "Kenton Nathaniel. This is the man I've been telling you about. He's the warrior, the king, the big strong Viking."
"Naw... I used to be all of that." Erik moved and reached for the boy, smiled as he kissed the babe. "Now I'm just your da'."
Linzi choked back tears as Erik awkwardly held the baby against him. It took him a moment to find a way to hold the tiny piece of him in his arms without hurting his side. He leaned down and kissed the baby over and over as Linzi pressed her fingers to her mouth, a soft cry leaving her.
Sara wrapped her arms around Linzi, pulling the girl close as Erik turned and walked around in a small circle with the baby. He spoke in a voice that melted her heart and made her pulse race.
Was he really back? Was he standing there in front of her? Holding their son?
Erik lifted the babe in the air, looking up at him and laughing loudly. "He's beautiful."
"I believe he looks like his father." Linzi moved from Sara to rest her hand on Erik’s arm.
"I’ll have to grow my hair back to see if the curls are the same. I think I see a hint of red in them.” Erik handed the baby back to the large woman beside them. "Sara, would you take my son and keep him just a little while longer? I have a woman I need to prove my love to."
"Of course, but when you're done reading poetry, could you please clear these dead bodies off our land?" She took Kenton and lifted her eyebrow as he started to cry. "Seems he likes you."
"Then he definitely takes after his mother," Linzi responded, sliding her arm around Erik’s waist.
“I’ll leave you to it then.” Sara laughed. “Best let your da’ know what’s happened while we slept.” She turned and carried the baby back to the small house.
"Come here, girl," Erik growled.
Linzi pulled her dress over her head and crossed her arms over her chest before moving toward him. He was laid out on her bed, his body bare and hardened from a life of fighting. The dark runes that brushed over his skin were majestic, giving him a dark appeal that lit her on fire from the inside out.
"You know…” She couldn’t finish her sentence.
"I don't want to talk about anything that's happened before this moment. I'm going to make you an honest woman the minute I can, but for now, I just need to feel you beneath me."
She nodded and slid into the bed next to him, laying back and trying to remember what it felt like to want passion so badly. For so long she had worked to squash it, to make it not an important part of her life that being naked in front of Erik felt wrong and unnatural.
He didn't give her too long to think about it.
Linzi let out a soft sound of surprise as he moved on top of her, his fingers sliding into her hair. He pulled her head up and made love to her mouth until she pushed him back, needing air desperately.
"Damn I've missed you. Nothing compares, lass. I need you more than the air I breathe or the food I eat. Kill me if you ever decide to leave me." He moved his hot kisses down her chest, his tongue pressing along the inking above her breast and lapping at it. She moaned loudly as fire burst along her veins, the heat causing her to arch her back. He rolled his tongue over her nipple, sucking it deep into his mouth as he rolled his hips, his body positioned to take hers.
"You're not leaving again?"
He licked her breasts once more before lifting his head. "Never. I've abdicated my throne. I'm here until you kick me out or I die."
"You're mine?"
"Forever, lass."
The news was overwhelming, resurrecting in nature. She turned, rolling Erik off of her as she mounted him. Hope sprung loose deep inside of her, the promise of a future with the man she loved leaving her close to tears again. She needed to show him how much she loved him. The words were still lodged in her chest. The last time she told him, she lost him.
"I need you," she whispered again, her heart voicing the truth over and over as she kissed her way down his chest and over the swell of his abdomen.
"Oh fook, lass. I want your mouth on me so damn bad. Taste me and let me watch you." He reached up and pulled another pillow under his head as Linzi looked up at him and licked her lips. Being sensual wasn't welcomed with Luke, but it was expected with Erik.
"I've never before."
"I'm going to be the first and last." He lifted his hips, his erection thick and delicious.
Desire poured over the top of her and she leaned in, pressing her tongue to him, and judging by the sounds of his moans if she was taking enough into her mouth. She took him in her hands, touching and stroking every part of his offering that her tongue and teeth were busy enjoying.
"Oh stop, lass. I'm close." He reached down and jerked her up, his hands rough and greedy against her skin.
Linzi pressed her hands to his chest and arched her hips, his body filling hers completely as they cried out together. Fear paralyzed her for a moment as she realized she didn't really know what she was doing. It had been too long.
"If I hurt you, just tell me to stop," she whispered, as sadness rushed along her nerve endings.
"If you hurt me?" He grabbed her hips and pulled hard, his eyes closing and head tilting back. "Please, hurt me. Do your damnedest to destroy my body. It's all yours."
His words blasted through her, their nights of passion before he left racing through her mind. So hot and needy, so fast and furious that they left dizzy with want and panting for more.
"You asked..." she whispered and leaned forward, sliding her hand to cup his throat as she jerked her hips furiously. He reached up and grabbed hold of her shoulder, digging his short nails into her flesh.
"That's it! Take it like you do. Remind me how badly it hurts not to have you, Linzi." He opened his eyes and moved his hands to her hips, setting their rhythm as the world around her exploded.
She froze, her body convulsing as Erik lifted her off the bed with his thrusts. Another scream lifted from her and he drove her over the edge of ecstasy, his name rolling off her tongue over and over again.
"My tu
rn." He sat up and lifted her off of him, turning her onto her stomach and pulling at her waist as she rose to all fours. "Beautiful... most enticing thing I've ever seen in my life. I could never get my fill of you."
She groaned loudly as he impaled her, his body stretching hers and leaving her grabbing desperately at the sheets. The hot flow of his breath on her lower back as he leaned over her almost undid her again. He worked himself in and out of her over and over until his breathing hitched. He moved up to his knees and pulled her up to hers, working her just as hard as his hand tightened on her breast, his face against the side of her neck.
"I'm going to lose myself in you. I want another boy, and another, and another. I want you to give me a house full of sons, so laughter fills this place." He thrusted again as she held on tightly to his thighs, his groan the most beautiful noise she had ever heard.
"Did you mean what you said?" Linzi asked him, her body tucked against his side, sweat covering both of them. The sheets below them were moist, the smell of sex lingering in the air above.
"About loving you and staying forever?" Erik looked down at her, his eyebrow lifting slightly.
"No. I believe you on that part." She brushed her fingers down his chest, rolling his nipple as he flinched. She wanted him to grow his hair back out, but it didn't seem like the time to bring it up. His blond hair softened him, made him less of a Viking and more of a man.
"Then what, lass?"
"The part about wanting a bunch of children?" She traced her fingers down the markings on his body, the design beautiful and enchanting. How anyone could sit long enough to have so many was beyond her.
"I did." He leaned down and softly kissed her lips. "I want to make a life with you here and a house full of kids is part of that. My father only had two of us and I wish he had been more invested in family. He had a country to rule though, I suppose."